


KHUX: The Lost Ones

by nyacat39



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-08-16 21:43:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16503248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyacat39/pseuds/nyacat39
Summary: After the Keyblade war, Five young Keyblade Wielders had to work hard to make sure everyone who made it out would be okay and be able to handle the new world they would be living in... The Darkness however took over and the five Leaders disappeared... or did they? Watch their struggles before they all became lost to time... and see where the future takes them.





	1. Bad Memories, Bad Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Just a heads up, I'm going to be calling the Player character, Avery (in reference to the fact they are technically the Avatar) and I'm calling Brain, Blaine (since Blaine just personally sounds better to me) That's it. That's about it, well... aside from the fact that in future chapters this will start branching more off into AU territory, but till then have character development and bonding.

_**Bad Memories, Bad Dreams:** _

_Rain pelted the ground as the sound of blades clashing and battle cries echoed through the desolate valley. Bodies laid upon the ground with key shaped blades of varying shapes and sizes stuck up from the ground next to them. Blood pooled below them and many seemed to have holes in their chests from their missing hearts, hearts that seemed to take on a golden light and float off into the sky as more people fell after the final hits from the blades._

_Despite all this a young teenage boy with hair as white as snow raced through the fields with crystal blue eyes scanning around for someone he knew. His long red scarf trailed behind him as his black boots kicked up puddles of water as he ran as fast as his legs could take him through this war field._

_**Please be okay.** _ _He thought, repeating it multiple times as he continued to scan the fields of battle. His breath shaky and his drenched clothes making him feel even more cold as he continued to miss what he was looking for… as well as seeing many of the ones falling around him were those close to his own age, give or take a couple years._

_The white haired boy dodged and avoided as many of the battles as he could as he continued to run. Of course he had his own Keyblade, a long purple and gold colored one with a shooting star being the main design for the teeth of the blade, out as well for protection from the ocasional fireballs and ice shards that would pierce or burn their targets, but it had yet to be used on anyone… and Ephemer intended to keep it that way as long as he could._

_Reaching a high point over a clearing, Ephemer stopped to catch his breath as he surveyed the land before him. The echoing screams of the fallen burning into his memory as he saw people fall below… but one figure stuck out to him as he watched a familiar form seem to slowly pull themselves into a safe area. Praying to whatever divine being he could, Ephemer slid down to the ground below and raced to the figures side._

" _Avery!" he called out, hoping to everything that was light it was the person he was looking for._

" _E...phe...mer?" They weakly questioned moving their head up to address the white haired boy, and showing a large bloody diagonal gash, that barely missed their left eye and cut across their nearly blue lips. Their normally tied back brown hair was stuck to their face and their eyes looked faded and unfocused. Ephemer's heart stopped when he saw the pool of blood below their body… as well as the trail they made just dragging their self all this way._

" _Avery hold on! I'm here…" The white haired boy sunk down to his knees and turned his friend over so he could better see the wounds they had. He had to hold back the bile that slowly tried to make its way up his throat from the long gashes across Avery's chest and stomach. They were so deep and mud was caked around them from having been dragged in the substance for a while. Immediately he held his keyblade up and focused his magic into it, hopping the limited healing magic he knew would fix this. As he charged his magic up, Avery raised a shaking, weakened and up and touched his face. Their skin was as cold as death… and yet despite that and the pain they were in they smiled._

" _You're… really… here." Tears seemed to start crawling down from their faded eyes as they looked up at the face of their friend._

" _CURE!" Ephemer screamed with tears of his own rolling down his soaked face, as if hopping the louder he cast the spell the more effective it would be. A green light shined around Avery for a moment… yet none of the wounds seemed to close._

" _I… waited for… for so… long…" Avery continued, still having a smile on their face despite the horrible amount of pain they were probably in. "I'm… I'm so happy… Ephem-" they began to cough violently, blood coming out and getting a bit onto Ephemer's once white shirt._

" _No…. nononononono NO!" Ephemer screamed and then rapidly began to cast as many cure spells as his own magical supply would allow. Despite that he only barely managed to close the worst of the injuries, and they looked like they would still rip open at the slightest of movements. Breathing heavily from magical fatigue and his own emotional distress as he watched Avery take many pain filled breaths, Ephemer found his vision blurring and distorting everything around him._

" _Sorry… we couldn't… meet at the… fountain again…" Avery barely whispered, their eyes slowly closing. "The sunsets… were always the best… I wish we… could see that together again."_

" _We will, just hold on!" Ephemer pulled them up with difficulty as his own exhaustion was starting to kick in. He held them close while wrapping one of their arms over his shoulders and using one arm to hold onto their side as he dragged them forward. "I'm going to open a portal! I'm going to save you! Then we can see it again together! Just hold on a little longer!"_

" _Eph...emer?" Avery's voice was so weak, so quiet even near his ear but he still heard the confusion in the voice and see the sightless eyes that stared right past him, almost desperately looking for something. "Where…. Did you go… don't leave again… please…"_

Ephemer sat up quickly in his bed as he felt his heart break all over again in his chest. His vision was blurred to the point he barely registered he was in the room he picked out nearly a year ago now in the clock tower. As his vision improved just a little bit, the white haired boy quickly flung himself out of his bed and raced out the door. Running as fast as his barely awake legs could take him, the boy raced through the halls down a path that he remembers by heart to the one room he visited more than his own.

Through the door he saw a lone pod, like many of the other pods that the other members of the Dandelions were in much deeper down in the tower, but unlike those this one was hooked up to large amounts of cables and medical equipment that the teen barely even knew how they worked. Hearing the familiar, slow beeping of the heart monitor Ephemer relaxed just a bit as he made his way to the pod's side.

Inside rested the sleeping form of Avery, wrapped up in bandage under the provided blanket, attached to two wires inside, and breathing slowly through the breathing mask as they slept. Ephemer rested a hand on top of the pod and faintly traced the scar that had formed from the gash his friend had gotten across the face when he found them. Guilt filled his heart as his gaze went to where he knew the bandages were and went back to the scar on Avery's face.

_My fault… this is all my fault…_

"Ephemer?" the familiar voice made the white haired boy jump nearly a foot in the air as he turned to the doorway. Standing there in her black nightdress with a sugar skull design on the chest and hem of the knee length sleepwear, was Skuld. Her long black hair a mess from having just gotten out of bed to investigate the sound of his panicked footfalls no doubt.

"Sorry for waking you…"

"Bad dreams again?"

"Memories… actually…" Ephemer slowly turned back to look at Avery's pod, his hand was still resting on top of it.

"Why don't you just go to Blaine? He's got quite a few Spirits made now. Pretty sure he wouldn't mind giving one to you like he did with Lauriam to help." Skuld offered as he walked over to his side, looking into the pod with a saddened expression at the sleeping teen.

"I'm fine… besides this just reminds me to come and make sure they remain stable…"

"The attached alarms would alert us if they weren't you know… Besides this is the sixth time this week alone Em. You're getting as bad as Lauriam was when his problems started." Skuld gently placed a worried hand on the white haired boy's shoulder as her brown eyes stared off, remembering how a couple months ago the pink haired boy seemed to have nearly stopped sleeping all together from the constant nightmares he had from the Keyblade War.

"I know… I just… I want to move on from it, not lock it away."

"The spirits don't lock these things away Em."

"She's right on that one Ephemer."

Not even needing to glance towards the door to know who it was that was there, Ephemer sighed.

"You going to go into the technicalities of how they work again Blaine?"

"Nah, I'm writing a book on it instead. But really, they're here to just help with the nightmares." The black haired teen waltzed right on in, hands in the pockets of his blue pajama pants with black star marks on them and loose tank top exposing a scar on the older teens left bicep… probably from one of his failed trick shot attempts of the past if Ephemer was guessing right.

It was quiet for a few beats, Skuld noticing how Blaine's uncovered eye was looking down at Avery and how much more noticable the scar across his nose was now without his hat on.

"Besides… I don't think your friend here would want you to worry yourself to death over them." Blaine's words caused Ephemer's head to snap over in his direction, while Skuld's face tried to keep a neutral look to it, despite the fact she was attempting to hold back a frown.

"You wouldn't know Blaine. You didn't see the state they were in or-"

"That's true." Blaine cut in. Skuld bit at her lower lip a little and backed out from between the two boys, just in case something happened, especially since she still had a hard time reading Blaine. "But what I do know is that if they really are your friend… They wouldn't want you to be losing sleep over them. They'd probably want you to be taking care of yourself as well."

Ephemer was quiet as he looked down a little, and let the other boy's words sink in.

"Because as a fellow Union Leader," Blaine turned to look Ephemer in the face, and even getting the white haired boy to look at him as well by speaking. "As well as your friend… I know I would want you to."

"Blaine…"

"I mean, I hope I'm your friend by this point, but still." The black haired boy shrugged and had his, by now, signature smirk on his face. Skuld found herself relaxing as she heard Ephemer sigh.

"Alright, I'll head back to bed… Quick question though."

"Go for it."

"What are you doing up this early? I can get why Skuld's awake, her room's not far from here… but your rooms no where near here." Skuld blinked as the strangeness of it finally registered in her tired mind. Ephemer was right, Blaine shouldn't have been woken up by the white haired boy… let alone have been able to get here so fast.

"Oh that… Couldn't sleep myself, so I went to the Workshop and began messing around with a couple new ideas I had brewing. Been there for a while, then I heard someone running in the halls so I thought I'd investigate." Blaine shrugged like it was no big deal, while both Ephemer and Skuld stared at him like he was an idiot.

 _Hypocrite._ Was the one word ringing through both Ephemer's and Skuld's minds as they continued to stare at the black haired teen. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound they heard, yet even then it was simply just apart of the background by this point.


	2. Of Spirits, Armor and Magic

**_Of Spirits, Armor and Magic:_ **

Blaine sat cross legged, dressed in his usual dark attire from his long black coat with the gold buttons, to the dark black undershirt and vest underneath, to the grey pants, the black cowboy boots and finally his black fedora with a long tan feather poking up out of it. In front of him was an intricately carved circle with magical ruins and a forming light in the middle of it. His left hand glowed as he held it right at the edge of the circle, his star bracelet atop his black leather bracer dangled just over the cold ground as magic poured from its owner’s hand.

Dark purple smoke began to rise up off of the circular pattern carved into the stone floor. It remained contained within the circle, as a dark figure began to take shape in the center. Piercing eyes began to glow a shocking yellow as the creatures mouth opened up, revealing sharpened teeth… and a yawn escaped from the jowls of a black cat that had light pink floral markings on its head and down it’s back.

“Another Spirit completed. Welcome to the world little buddy,” Blaine grinned as the smoke fully cleared out, leaving only himself and the newly made cat in the room full of science equipment. Blaine held his hand out to the newly made spirit, fully ready to take it to its new owner.

“So how many have you made this time?” Walking in from the entrance to the room, just as the spirit rubbed up against the black haired teen’s hand, was another older teen with neck length pink hair that stuck out a little from his head at the ends from the small amounts of curls that were natural to him. His black vest with long, tattered tail coats practically fluttering behind him. Trotting next to this teen was a small pink and yellow spirit that looked like a cat with much longer fur and more pointed ears then the black one. In the teens hands were two mugs of hot cocoa.

“Not as many as last time. I got a little side tracked with an idea I got last night.” Blaine shrugged, picking the black cat up and tapping it’s forehead, with a little bit of magic focused onto the tip of his finger, turning it into a bright light and sending it to the person it was made for. The pink haired boy hummed a little as he took a seat at one of the desks and set one of the two mugs down, while the pink sprite jumped up onto his lap and wrapped it’s furry tail around itself.

“As long as it’s not finding a way to put pineapples into any more baked goods they shouldn’t be in, color me interested.”

“Come on that was just one time Lauriam… besides this one was a really good idea, trust me.” Blaine grinned at the end as he walked over and grabbed the mug of cocoa that was meant for him. Lauriam simply motioned for the other teen to continue. Blaine took one sip from the mug before giving another big grin to the pink haired, fancy dressed teen. “I’m making armor.”

“Armor?”

“Not just any armor! Oh no, this will be Magic Armor that protects you from the darkness!” The darker dressed teen practically swung his arms out dramatically as he went, Lauriam merely schooled his expression to be unreadable while his spirit jumped with a slight hiss as some of the cocoa from Blaine’s mug landed on its head, then vanished in a quick burst of light till it would be needed again. 

“... How many days of insomnia brought that idea up?”

“Going on day two and making leaps and bounds on it my friend! Though… I am still trying to figure out how to do the metal work.” Glancing down to his mug, Blaine noticed how he seemed to have lost almost half of the contents of his drink with his excitement. With a slight frown but not fully deterred by it he just decided to drink the rest of what he had as Lauriam gave him a blank look for a little longer.

“I’m… assuming you want my help with that then?”

“Perceptive as always my dear assistant!”

“Not your assistant.”

“Now then, we need to figure out how to craft magic into metal.”

“I’m more of a florist than a blacksmith Blaine…”

“Then use that magic to make it form into armor attachments.”

“You’re just going off on your own ideas and not listening-”

“That fits it’s wearer to however they want it to be, and give them total protection from the corrupting forces of darkness!”

“And you literally just answered what I was about to ask on that…” 

“It’s brilliant! I mean, it will be once we figure out the finer points. But I have complete and total confidence in our track record so far my dear friend!” Blaine grinned as wide as he could in excitement as he pictured all the possibilities his idea held, not even noticing the slightly annoyed look he was getting from his fellow Union Leader.

“Our track record is literally just the Spirits, making a lot of Potions and not blowing up the Kitchen.” Lauriam deadpanned as he set his now empty mug down onto the table with a soft click on the wood.

“You got me there, but I completely believe in our abilities to get this vision into reality!” The black haired teen quickly moved over to another table, littered with test tubes and parchment, and began to rifle through it all. “I’ve got a couple designs for a few Prototypes we could try and-”

“Blaine, just stop right there alright.” Lauriam calmly demanded as he went over and put a firm hand on his friend’s shoulder to top him. “You’re getting really ahead of yourself right now… Neither of us know how to even make armor, let alone put protective light magic into it. You need to relax and go back a couple steps before you get yourself to far in the deep end here.”

The smile left Blaine’s face, with his eyes being covered by half of his black spiky hair and his hat, it was hard to tell much else from the small frown that made itself known. Though, the fact that Lauriam had been working right with him all year, he knew that Blaine was looking right at him and actually taking in the words that were told to him.

“... Guess I did jump the gun a little there…” Blaine sighed finally and looked down to the paper that was in his hands.

“Let’s just take this idea slow. We can check to see if anyone else knows a thing or two about metal work, though I personally doubt two fifteen year olds or an eleven year old would know… It never hurts to check.” Lauriam offered, taking a glance at the paper and seeing a couple of sketches for various little armor pieces on it. A little rim that looked like the bottom part of a helmet with jagged lines around the cheeks and chin, some shoulder pauldrons of varying shapes and sizes, a belt that looked to have two armored sides to protect the upper legs, there even seemed to be sketches for some sets of armored boots. Though it was a bit rushed, and not entirely thought out… Lauriam did have to give Blaine credit on making some really good looking sketches.

“.... Think Skuld would know a thing or two? Girl does know how to handle a keyblade better than the rest of us, if her current position as the “Queen of Training Matches” is anything to go by.” Blaine offered, setting the paper down and glancing over to his friend.

“That would be one hell of a coincidence if she did.” Lauriam laughed a little, as they both turned and began to make their way towards the door to find Skuld… when someone ended up running into Blaine instead. Stumbling a little from the collision, Blaine quickly took notice of the young blond haired boy who rubbed at his head a little and seemed to stumble back a bit as well.

“Whoa there Ven, where’s the fire?” 

“Sorry ‘bout that…” the blond kid, Ventus, winced a little before looking up to Blaine’s shaded eyes with wide blue eyes that held excitement within them. “But I was coming to get you so could teach me how to do more Fire trick shots! You promised after all!”

“Oh crap that’s right.” Blaine winced before turning over to Lauriam, his one eye not covered by his hair being a little visible at this angle and looking completely apologetic. “Think you could ask Skuld and Ephemer for me?”

“Just make sure he doesn’t have any of the spells blow up in his face like yours did.” Lauriam sighed as he waved the dark teen to go on with the youngest of the new Union Leaders. “I got this covered.”

“Thanks bud, and sorry for ditching.” Turning back to Ventus and ignoring the curious look from the blond, Blaine patted the boy on the back and smiled. “Ready to be launching fire at unsuspecting training dummies?”

“Heck yeah! I’ve been ready all morning!” Ventus exclaimed, eyes practically sparkling in excitement as he followed after Blaine to the training area they had set up.

Lauriam smiled as he watched them go, before turning and heading off the opposite direction to try and find Skuld… ignoring the cold chill going down his back now that he was all alone… as well as ignoring how it almost looked like someone dressed in white with long orange hair seemed to follow slowly behind him in the reflection of one of the windows.

_ She’s not real… You know this… Just… Just find the others and she’ll go away again. _


	3. Chapter 3

**_Training and Armor:_ **

On a wide open field, two figures clashed with the sounds of metal crashing through the air. One seemed to have more of an edge on the other as they whipped around and forced the other to remain on the defencive. The one on the offensive, was Skuld. Her long black hair flowing behind her while her short black jacket with pink belts around the sleeves fluttered a little with her movements. The one on the defensive and struggling a bit from the surprisingly heavy blows, was Ephemer. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he had to parry or block many of the strikes. Even being forced to try and sidestep a few times just to try and get enough space so he could actually try to hit her.

Skuld gracefully flipped right over Ephemer’s head, as he tried to finally get a hit in on her, then swung her keyblade, a short silver and pale pink colored blade with crescent moons and three stars making up the teeth of the key, with all her strength at the white haired boy’s unprotected back. Ephemer, swung around as fast as he could with his own keyblade, his trusty Starlight Keyblade, to try and block the heavy attack… only to get it knocked out of his hands instead and Skuld’s Keyblade, Moons Light, to be pointed right at his chest.

“Point, me.” The black haired girl smirked as she made her weapon vanish till it would be needed again, then held her hand out to Ephemer.

“Ever thought of going easy just once?” Ephemer chuckled lightly as he took her hand. 

“Right and have you boys take advantage of my Keyblade’s shorter reach as well as my poor magic skills?” Skuld scoffed a little with a playful smirk and letting go of Ephemer’s hand. “No thank you, I’m gonna stick to giving it my all and pushing you boys.”

“Hey, I just had to ask.” Ephemer shrugged, before glancing over to the large chalkboard they had set up with everyone’s “Scores” from their training sessions. “Tomorrow we’re going to have to reset that again from the looks of things.”

“Just when you were two points ahead of Blaine this time as well.” Skuld sighed as she saw right underneath her large tallied wins, Ephemer had the second highest amount of wins, while Blaine was third and Ven seemed to be off by one point… Lauriam seemed to have his, by now, standard three points though which always made Skuld feel a little bad for the pink haired boy.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t try to beat that score next time.”

“Dunno. Maybe Lauriam will pull a fast one next time.” 

“Only if we all have Panacea’s on hand. His keyblade leaves behind some serious poison.” Ephemer shuddered, remembering how the first time they all trained he had been put up against the pink haired boy… only to be practically losing his lunch as well as the feeling in his limbs after being hit with his “Dark Hellebore”. He still remembered the absolute terror on the other boy’s face when he realized how badly Ephemer was poisoned… and the guilty, haunted look on Lauriam’s face that followed afterwards for a week.

“I could ask Blaine when I go to the workshop later. Pretty sure he’s got the recipe nailed somewhere and a stock of herbs somewhere in there.” Skuld offered, determination to help her fellow Union Leader improve and overcome his fears making their way to the forefront of her mind. Whatever was eating at any of her friends, she was determined to make it her mission to get them through it however she could… When she wasn’t helping Blaine with their current project. Making Armor was a new thing for her as well, but she did at least know how to do a little bit of metal work, so they were at least making progress.

_ Yeah… Underneath a whole bunch of Theories and Science/Magic papers probably.  _ Ephemer thought, his face contorting into a grimace for a moment.

“I’ll head over there now actually. I think Blaine might be tainting Ven’s mind with more of his mad science with Lauriam on supply run duty today.” Skuld stated after thinking it over for a moment, then turned to Ephemer. “Besides, it’s your turn to check on the Dandelions today.”

“Right… Good Luck.”

….

“...And that’s how I nearly got first place in a Magic competition.” Blaine concluded as he smoothed out a metal piece in his hands. 

“No fair! You really should have won!” Ventus exclaimed from his seat next to the dark teen.

“Kinda hard to be a winner when everything’s on fire.” Blaine shrugged before turning over in his seat to fully face the youngest Union Leader. “Wanna try this on kiddo?”

Blaine held out a silver looking piece that seemed to be the lower half of a helmet. It was very close to one of his original sketches with curved points that would go up one’s cheeks and protected mostly the lower jaw and back of the head. Ventus glanced over it, feeling a little hesitant but one look up at the older teen and the young blond soon felt that fade away with a bright smile.

“Heck yeah I do!” Taking the armor piece from the older teen Ventus was about to put it on before pausing with a confused look. “Uh… how do I?”

Blaine couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face, nor could he help the small chuckle that came from his throat. 

“Here, let me help you.”

Reaching over and helping Ventus slip the helmet piece over his head before securing it in place, Blaine took note that it did seem just a size or two to big as the metal around the chin and the cheeks seemed to leave a little extra spaces then originally intended… though it did seem to hold firm around Ventus’s neck and back of his head pretty well.

_ Nothing a little charm work can’t fix.  _ The dark haired teen thought for a moment before grinning and giving Ventus a thumbs up.

“Looks great Ven.”

“Really?” Ventus’s bright blue eyes practically began to shine in his excitement. 

“Yeah, now we just gotta test one last thing with it. Just to be sure.” Ven’s excitement turned into a moment of curiosity as his head tilted a little at Blaine’s words.

“It’s gonna be real easy, trust me.”

“Okay.”

“Alright, I need you to take some of those magic lessons I gave you-”

“Like making a normal fire spell to make a mini fire tornado? OH or like those Ice Spikes you used on Ephemer during a sparring session?” Ven gasped a little in excitement. “OR is it gonna be like the time you made a Thunder spell charge into your keyblade instead of around you?!”

“Close but less destructive and painful.” Blaine had to hold back the slight chuckle at seeing the eleven year old deflate a little in disappointment. “Nah, I need you to focus a little bit of your magic into the helmet piece.”

“That’s all?”

“Yup. Easiest thing to do.”

“Aw… fine.” Ventus sighed and closed his eyes, focusing his magic into the armor piece around his head. He had no idea how long he was supposed to do it for, or what was even supposed to happen really.

“How you feeling Ven?”

“Huh?” Opening his eyes Ven was actually surprised to see the world around him looking darker. Like he was looking through a pair of sunglasses. Reaching a hand up to his face, Ventus found his hand touching an almost glass like surface that covered everything around his head that wasn’t already protected by the metal piece. Thankfully it seemed like he could also breath pretty easily in it still.

“From that response, I’m gonna say that you’re fine. Looks like Prototype-13-D’s heading in the right direction.” Blaine grinned as he saw the dark glass like dome protecting Ventus’s face, and obscuring his view of the blond beneath it. “I’ll have to run some tests later on how it holds up to protecting against Darkness later… but for now I’d say it’s looking pretty cool so far.”

Though it went unseen, Ventus felt a lot of joy building up in his chest.

“Blaine what the hell?” Skuld’s voice startled both Blaine and Ventus, making both of them turn to where the brown eyed girl stood with her arms crossed and a disappointed look on her face. “I thought we’d be testing the armor together.”

“.... Oh crap I forgot.” Blaine winced as he put a hand to his forehead, lifting his hat up a little bit from his face and letting the scar across the bridge of his nose become just a little more noticable. “Sorry Skuld, I got a little caught up in finishing one of them-”

“Save it.” Skuld sighed before turning her attention to Ven. “How’s it feeling Ven? Not to tight? Uncomfortable?”

“Oh, uh… No I’m feeling pretty good. I think it’s a little wide, maybe I uh… I don’t really know. Blaine says I look pretty cool though!”

“Well he’s not wrong on that one.” Skuld laughed a little, walking over and patting Ven on the shoulder, seeing as she couldn’t really ruffle his hair like she usually would with the helmet up. “He tell you how to turn it off yet though?”

Though his face wasn’t visible, both teens could tell Ventus’s face went from excitement to contemplative, to kinda worried, all from how his shoulders moved.

“Uh… no… not yet.”

“Same way you turned it on. Just put a little magic into it and it’ll go back to normal.” Blaine explained, and soon after Ventus had the black dome of the helmet fade away into the metal once again. The young blond was about to take it off but Blaine stopped him. “You can keep that one. I’ve got a spare we can work on.”

Skuld raised an eyebrow at Blaine but Ventus gasped.

“Really?”

“Yeah, in fact you should go show Ephemer. Then Lauriam whenever he gets back from the supply run.”

“Okay! Good Luck you guys!” Ventus exclaimed and practically jumped out of his seat in excitement, leaving behind the two teens… one smiling as he watched the young boy leave the room while the other was giving a minor glare to the other teen.

“I think I’d remember if we had spares of any of the armor pieces we made Blaine. That was the only helmet piece we made.” Skuld pointed out as soon as Ventus was a good distance away.

“Yeah… I know. But did you see how happy he was?” Blaine’s smile fell a little till only the corners of his lips were raised a little in a slightly saddened smile.

“... Yeah. Yeah I get it.” Skuld sighed, a small smile slowly made its way onto her own face… before she punched Blaine in the shoulder. “Don’t go testing the rest of the Armor without me though. We are a team after all.”

“Okay, Okay. Sheesh.”


	4. Chapter 4

**_Darkness Hidden in Memories:_ **

_ “Lauriam!” a young girl’s voice called out through the expanse of a large meadow. A young pink haired boy wearing a short sleeved white button up, and maroon colored pants turned to the voice, a smile bright on his face when he saw the girl in a white sundress with long orange hair tied into long twin ponytails that blew gently in the wind as she ran over to him. In her hand was a long, orange and green colored keyblade with leaf like designs making up the handle and flowers shaped like Morning Glories made up the teeth of the key. _

_ “You summoned one to Strelitzia?” Lauriam smiled as he turned around, showing her a keyblade of his own. A Slightly curved blade that had dark green colors and vines wrapping around the guard of it’s handle, a few large light purple flowers rested close together in an open bloom looking much like a few lilac flowers. The orange haired girl took in a deep breath, her eyes wide and filled with joy. _

_ “This is great! When should we go to Daybreak Town? Should we dress up? Should we get packing now? Oh gosh we need to tell our parents. We should-” Strelitzia rambled, practically pacing as she listed off each of the ideas that came to her and getting her white sandals covered in some grass blades. _

_ “Breath Litzia, we got time.” Lauriam chuckled as he stopped her pacing by placing a hand on her shoulder. Locking his blue eyes with her teal ones he smiled. “We just got chosen to be Keyblade wielders after all. On the same day! If anything I’d say we should celebrate!” _

_ Strelitzia gasped a little with a bright smile before grabbing onto her friend’s hand with her free one, still not knowing how to desummon her keyblade yet, and started to drag him back to town. _

_ “I’ve got just the place in mind! We could get our parents to take us there and we can make plans for when we go to Daybreak Town over the dinner! Oh gosh this all just feels like a dream Riam!” _

_ “I can hardly believe it either Litzia… Hey Litzia?”  _

_ “Hm?” Strelitzia hummed, not stopping in her trek towards town and also not letting go of her friend’s hand. _

_ “Can we… Do… Should we join the same Union?” Worry built up in Lauriam’s chest as soon as he asked. Though he didn’t know to much about what happened in Daybreak Town, he did know that most Union members never really got along with other Unions… he really hoped that they wouldn’t get seperated. _

_ “I don’t see why not. We’ve been together for years now, why would we separate like that?” _

_ “Ah, dumb question then. Sorry.” Relief washed over the young boy.  _

_ “... Then again we did separate in the end… Didn’t we?” _

_ Confused for a moment, Lauriam blinked and found the entire scene around him change to the inside of a dark storehouse. His hand was holding nothing but air now while the other was holding a different keyblade…. A curved keyblade that had thorns poking up from the blade, attached to equally dangerous looking vines that made up the guard and three large flowers that were a very dark red and shaped like the Hellebore flower… and dripping blood from the hardened petals of the blade. _

**_No… No no no…_ ** _ Panic began to fill the pink haired teen, as he quickly realized he wasn’t the naive boy he was just moments ago… and he found himself looking up to the teen version of his friend who had a bloody, gaping hole where her heart had been. _

Lauriam’s eyes opened quickly, just in time to see the cat like spirit Blaine had given him a while back attempting to block the image that haunted his many nightmares. Said spirit seemed to look up from it’s job as it saw its master was wide awake already. It’s ears folded back and it’s blue eyes looked down at the ground, feeling like it failed it’s job.

“You did your best Rose…” Lauriam sighed as he reached a hand out from under the covers of his bed to pet the spirit a little. After a little bit, Lauriam pulled himself out from his bed completely and decided to go for a little walk around the Tower… after all he wasn’t going to be sleeping again so soon after that.

_ Maybe Blaine’s in the Workshop again… or he could be baking cookies and making hot chocolate again in the kitchen. I wouldn’t put it past him for either situation at this point.  _ The pink haired teen thought as he walked down the halls, his spirit walking right next to him all the while.

Turning down a couple halls and going down a few flights of stairs, Lauriam was getting close to the Workshop when he saw someone else coming out of a door not to far from him… and nearly running him over in the process. Pausing just before he could knock the other boy over, Ephemer stood there in a slightly panicked state.

“Oh gosh I’m sorry!” The white haired boy quickly apologized, taking a step or two back so he wasn’t going to run into his fellow Union Leader and looked ready to bolt off in another direction.

“Where’s the fire Ephemer?” The pink haired teen questioned, looking over the other boy from his grey shirt that had some red lettering for some kind of band he had never heard of, to the long black sweatpants, to the bed head that practically screamed how the younger Union Leader had just gotten out of bed.

Ephemer was hesitant for a moment before motioning for Lauriam to follow, if he wanted.

“I just… I have to check on someone.” Ephemer explained as he began to hurry down the halls, Lauriam following after him out of concern, to a familiar room with a single pod in it.

“... How often have you been doing these nightly checks on your friend here?” Lauriam asked after a little while, letting the white haired boy check over his sleeping friend.

“.... Almost once a week… Don’t tell Skuld, please.” Ephemer pleaded quietly after doing his check.

“Fine….” Lauriam sighed, not paying attention as his spirit decided that now was the time it wasn’t needed anymore and vanishing in a small burst of light.

“So… Why are you up this early?” 

“... Bad dreams, surprisingly.”

“Even with a spirit? I thought they took care of those….” Ephemer muttered in a bit of shock.

“Mine’s technically modified from the others.” Lauriam sighed, leaning his back against the door frame to the room. “The others deal with keeping all the bad memories and dreams locked away, making them easier to forget…. Mine’s made to chase them away so I can still remember them. They just don’t make me wake up every night in terror… though sometimes a few will slip through here and there.”

“Oh… You uh… wanna talk about it?” Ephemer offered, knowing very well that the two of them didn’t talk all that much… though to the white haired boy it seemed like they had at least something in common now.

Lauriam thought about it for a moment, glancing over to Ephemer, then to the pod with the brown haired person sleeping with in, then to the heart monitor that beeps periodically.

“... I usually talk this over with Blaine…” Lauriam muttered as he turned his gaze to the outside of the room, before sighing. “... How do you feel about talking it over with hot cocoa and cookies?”

“At… At three in the morning?” Ephemer was heavily confused now.

“Believe it or not, it really helps with relaxing. Especially after some nightmares.” 

Even with the explanation given to him, Ephemer found himself still finding it hard to believe that Lauriam apparently had a sweet tooth bigger then Ventus’s by this point. Then again if he knew that Blaine had started this trend with Lauriam… he would have many more questions than he originally had.


	5. Chapter 5: Early Mornings

**_Early Mornings_ **

The suns rays landed right on Ventus’s face, waking the young boy up enough to attempt to bury his head into his pillow with a quiet groan.

“Five more minutes sun… Just five…. More…” The blond began to feel himself slowly drift back into the realm of sleep where he almost wished to stay… till the smell of food from the kitchen not to far from his chosen room hit his nose. As always by this point, the smell of breakfast made the young blond boy jolt up and out from his bed and run straight into the kitchen.

The feel of the cold floors of the hallway under his bare feet helped Ventus wake up as he raced to the kitchen. Once he arrived the young blond practically slid right on in through the doorway, and quickly his bright blue eyes settled on both Lauriam, wearing a plain maroon colored button up sleeping shirt and matching pants, and Ephemer, wearing a grey and red band t-shirt and long black sweatpants, standing by the stove.

“Morning Ven,” Lauriam greeted with a polite smile before he turned back for a moment as he sprinkled some chocolate chips into some pancake batter. “Hope you like Chocolate chips in your pancakes, we ran out of blueberries.”

“Probably because someone dropped them all after we got them out of the fridge.” Ephemer smirked as he worked on a few of the other skillets on the stove.

“Shh, no we ran out. Plain and simple.” Lauriam smirked a little as he elbowed the white haired boy, who in turn laughed a little. Ventus would have been more curious as to how the two seemed to have gotten so buddy buddy when just yesterday morning the two barely knew how to hold a solid conversation without either Blaine or Skuld to help them. However one thing was at the front of Ventus’s mind, pushing that curiosity to the back at the moment.

“I love chocolate chip!! Can I help?” Ventus bounced a little on his heels with a bright smile taking up his face.

“You can help with setting up the plates, we got the food covered.” Ephemer smiled, that smile however fell a little when he saw the upset look on Ventus’s face. “.... wanna help with lunch later?”

“Oh! Uh… yeah, sure.” Ventus’s expression turned to one of surprise before he smiled, though to both the teens they could tell it wasn’t completely genuine. Lauriam felt a little smirk make its way into his face while Ephemer felt so lost.

“Tell you what Ven. You set up the table, and I’ll let you have all the leftover chocolate chips.” That had brought a spark or excitement in the young blond.

“You got it!” Ven grinned as, like a bullet, he raced off and began grabbing plates and silverware for the table.

“.... How did you-“

“Ven’s like Blaine, a complete sweet addict. Offer them something sweet and they’re likely to do almost anything you ask of them.” Lauriam stated as he flipped two pancakes in the skillet a bit before placing them onto a plate on the side. “I’m surprised you forgot about that.”

“We’ve been up since three in the morning Lauriam. Forgive me if I’m a little forgetful….. Wait Blaine’s a sweet addict?”

“Who do you think got me into the three am snack time?”

Ephemer let out a small wince. He was never to big on sweets to begin with, only having a soft spot for chocolate really, but after spending the morning talking over nightmares and what their lives were like before the war well…. that was pushing his chocolate liking a little with the mugs of hot cocoa and single batch of chocolate chip cookies.

_ And now we’re just having a little more now…. why did we have to drop the blueberries?  _

“Tables set guys!” Ventus exclaimed as he ran back to the two teens. The blond practically bounced on his bare feet. Lauriam smiled and patted Ventus on the head.

“A deal’s a deal.” After putting a couple more pancakes onto the nearby plate, the pink haired boy grabbed the quarter empty bag of chocolate chips they had used and handed it over to the excited blond. “Though you might want to wait until-”

Ventus had already stuffed some of the chocolate pieces in his mouth by the time Lauriam had said the word “Wait”... It didn’t help that Ephemer laughed a little at the timing and Lauriam couldn’t even bring himself to be mad at the eleven year old. Try as he might, the pink haired teen could only find himself breaking into a bout of chuckles, and rubbing at his own forehead.

“You said I could have them!” Ventus pointed out as he pulled a couple more chips out of the bag to munch on.

“I did. But I thought with breakfast nearly being done and all.” Lauriam tried to sound like a scolding parent, though he found himself struggling to keep a straight face with the proud look that was practically plastered on the younger boy’s face.

“You said I could have them after setting the table, so I did.” 

“He’s got you there Lauriam.”

“Oh shut up.”

It was around then that the three boys found themselves all just laughing. Even after making sure the rest of the breakfast was finished, the three just had a hard time getting their good mood down as the older two portioned the food as evenly as possible onto the other plates. Even after Blaine and Skuld both walked in for the morning.

“You ever seen them be that happy at like… eight in the morning?” Skuld questioned as the two black haired teens stepped into the kitchen, watching as the other three union leaders seemed to be in very high spirits this morning.

“Not really, though I’m not complaining. Ephemer and Lauriam both seemed like they need something like this sooner or later. Also any morning with chocolate involved is a good morning to me.” Blaine grinned as he made practically a b-line for his seat to start the day off right, while Skuld just rolled her eyes and smiled a little herself.

_ I’m just glad things are finally starting to look up for everyone.  _ Skuld thought as she made way to the final seat.

….

A set of pale blue eyes opened slowly within the confines of a large pod. The faint sound of a heart monitor nearby started to draw their attention. Turning slowly the person, Avery, soon found that they had a breathing mask on.

_ I’m… in a hospital? But I thought…  _ They paused as their vision started to slowly clear, seeing that they were behind a layer of glass and wires trailed to both of their arms within the confines of the pod. Outside of the pod however their eyes landed on a small vase of slightly wilting flowers. Someone had visited.

“Eph...emer?” Their voice croaked with disuse. Slowly Avery tried to push theirself up and see if they could open the pod that they were in… only to freeze when a pair of red eyes started to stare right into their blue ones.

**_“Welcome back… Partner~”_ **


	6. Chapter 6: Awakening

**_Awakening:_ **

Just as the new Union Leaders were cleaning up their plates from breakfast, alarms began to blare loudly making all five Leaders jump in surprise… and at least one of them to let out a surprised scream as well.

“Did… did you just scream?” Skuld asked, her brown eyes looking at Ventus. The young boy’s cheeks went pink for a moment.

“No!” Ventus squeaked in denial, only to practically throw his hands up and cover his mouth afterwards.

“Ven’s girl scream aside-” Blaine began.

“I didn’t scream!” Ven protested, while Skuld glared at the black haired teen for the “Girl” comment.

“That alarm means something’s going on with one of the Dandelions. We’re gonna need to-” Blaine continued only for Ephemer to run right out of the kitchen, dropping a couple dishes onto the ground in his haste. “... Okay looks like Ephemer’s got the right idea. I’m heading down to the “Garden”, someone should back Ephemer up while the other two come with me. We don’t know if it involves a heartless attack, or something else.”

“I’ll go with Em-” Skuld began only for Lauriam to already make his way to the doorway at a quick pace to try to catch up to the white haired boy.

“Hurry up to the “Garden” you guys! We don’t have time to waste.” Lauriam commanded before breaking into a sprint down the hall after Ephemer, who was running at his top speed to Avery’s room.

“He’s got a point, let’s move!” Blaine shouted as he summoned his keyblade, a dark long blade with two partial diamond shapes making up the guard, a jagged end that left an opening in the middle of a second jagged end that looked to be made of glowing white crystal, the length of the blade itself had small little crystals that glowed as well going from the guard up to the twin sided spikes. Spinning the keyblade, Light in the Dark, just once Blaine held it forward in his left hand as he summoned a portal down to the room they were heading to. 

Ventus went through first while Skuld glanced out with hesitation to the doorway, before letting out a small breath and jumping through the portal as well. Blaine went through at the rear and the portal closed immediately behind them.

Meanwhile Ephemer and Lauriam nearly broke the door off its hinges just to get into the room that Avery’s pod rested in. Once inside, both teens took immediate notice of the fact that the normally unconscious brunette within the pod was flailing around and seemed to be screaming, though the pod muffled the noise. The heart rate monitor was also beeping erratically through the blaring alarm.

“Avery!” Ephemer screamed as he ran straight to the pod and began trying to open it however he could while Lauriam seemed to be frozen at the door. The pink haired boy’s eyes seemed to be locked onto the brunette within the pod and his hands trembled at something only his eyes seemed to see, as Ephemer seemed more panicked about his friend’s condition then what Lauriam seemed to see.

Around the brunette keyblade wielders body looked to be a black mist that was forcing its way into the younger teen’s body. Though filtered by the closed pod, Lauriam could practically smell the darkness radiating from it as well as the cold chill it left. Lauriam’s right hand shook uncontrollably a little before it summoned his keyblade, Dark Hellebore. The thorns that made up the length of the curved blade seemed a little sharper then normal, while the darkened petals that made up the teeth of the key seemed to drip with the dangerous poison the blade produced.

_ Destroy it… that… that  _ **_thing_ ** _ needs to be  _ **_destroyed._ ** Those words echoed in the pink haired boy’s mind as he stared at the swirling darkness within the pod. Practically ready to lung at the pod, Lauriam only stopped when it opened… and the darkness seemed to vanish as Avery took in a few deep gasps after having screamed for God only knows how long.

“Avery! Avery, it’s alright! You’re safe!” Ephemer screamed, his worry clear in his voice and barely registering his own volume. Crystal blue eyes made contact with pale blue as Avery seemed to slowly register what was going on around them.

“Eph… emer?” Their voice croaked as they carefully reached a hand up to touch the white haired boy’s face. “Are… are you… is this real?”

“Yeah…. Yeah it is.” Ephemer smiled, though it quivered a little as tears began to slide down his cheeks as one of his own hands reached up and held Avery’s. As soon as Avery felt it, their own eyes widened for a moment before their own tears began to crawl down their face.

“You’re really here…” Avery croaked as the tears began to fall faster. In one swift motion the brunette quickly wrapped both arms around the white haired boy and buried their face into Ephemer’s shirt. Ephemer, feeling all the guilt he had over the year he had been here in the clock tower come crumbling off his shoulders, began to cry harder as well as he wrapped his own arms around his friend and couldn’t even bury his own face into Avery’s shoulder as his tears flowed freely.

Lauriam, to his own credit, attempted to keep a neutral face as he felt like the awkward third wheel to the scene before him. It also didn’t help that his nerves were also still on end as he had no idea what happened to all that darkness… and for Ephemer’s sake, Lauriam hopped to all there was in the worlds that it hadn’t succeeded in… whatever it was it was trying to do with Avery.

“Garden’s clear… Oooh… Oh boy this is an awkward moment…” Blaine’s voice brought Lauriam’s attention away from the crying duo and to the otherside of the doorway. The scared Union Leader looked a little uneasy at seeing one of his friends, as well as someone he hardly knew, having a touching reunion. Well, he could only hope it was that in all honesty.

“... Let’s give them some space then… and keep Ven and Skuld from walking into this as well for now.” Lauriam muttered to Blaine, dismissing his keyblade for the moment, and quietly leaving the room. Blaine could only nod his head in agreement as the two turned around to leave the two friends to their reunion… Lauriam only taking one glance back and almost swearing he saw Avery looking at him… with a faint glow of red in their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that the area where the Dandelions are all resting is called the Garden. Just a personal headcannon.


	7. Chapter 7: Explorations, Hesitations

**_Explorations, Hesitations:_ **

“Alright, all the charms are set. Let’s see if they can hold off the darkness.” Blaine grinned as he slipped on an armored shoulder pauldron that went down half the length of his right arm. Channeling some of his magic into his left hand, he tapped it onto the circular button in the center of the armor piece. In a burst of light, Blaine was covered head to toe in a protective black and gold colored armor. It was well stylized with one side of the protective helmet having a long, fin like point on the right side, much like the feather on his hat, with a black visor covering his eyes and slightly pointed around the covered chin. Stylized points poked up from the joints on his arms and almost looking like secondary blades at his elbows and lower legs.

_ “Got a rope ready guys?”  _ Blaine asked, his voice slightly echoed with the armor on, as he turned to Lauriam and Skuld. 

“Had it ready for the last hour.” Skuld smirked as she tossed him one end of the rope. The armored teen took it and wrapped it around his waist, making sure it was good and tight.

“You sure there’s no other way to test it?” Lauriam questioned, concern clear on his face. “I mean, it’s a really big risk in general. Surely there’s-”

_ “Sorry my dear assistant. But only real way to test if it can keep the effects of Darkness from effecting someone is to have a volunteer. Besides, that’s what the rope is for! The second that I feel the Darkness breaking through the charms I’ll tug and you both will pull me back to the light!”  _ Blaine explained, each movement he made as if to accentuate his words made the armor click and clank a few times.  _ “Also we drew straws, and I got the short one remember?” _

“Fine… also for the last time I’m not your assistant.” Lauriam sighed, still clearly not on board with this idea. He did however grab onto the other end of the rope with Skuld, who wrapped it around both her hands for a better grip while Lauriam just held onto it.

_ “Be back in a few!”  _ Blaine turned around quickly, summoning Light in the Dark and opening up a portal that he intended to keep open for this experiment. Stepping through and leaving his fellow Union Leaders behind to insure he could return, the two could only wait till they got the signal to pull him back.

“... Think he’ll actually make it to another world before we have to pull him back?” Skuld pondered as she kept a good grip on the rope that was spooling out into the portal.

“I honestly don’t think we have enough rope for that.” Lauriam sighed, earning him a shrug from the black haired girl.

“Hey, we honestly don’t know how everything changed out there… for all we know it could be a hop, skip and a jump to a new world.”

“I guess…” 

“Something bothering you?” Lauriam frowned and looked to the ground, while Skuld looked at him with a quirked brow.

“... It’s not important.” He answered after being quiet for a bit. 

“Why does that sound like a load of bull?” 

Lauriam frowned at Skuld’s words, but kept quiet. Really, it was mostly him still feeling… wrong with Ephemer’s friend Avery. When they had woken up nearly a week ago now, Lauriam and Ephemer were the only two people there at the time… but the pink haired Union Leader was the only one to properly notice the darkness that was trying to take over the brunette. Since then, Avery had actually been helping around wherever they could… and Lauriam always felt both uncomfortable and like he had to take them out like all the heartless he encountered in his life.

_ But I can’t… I just… I can’t do that to Ephemer and Skuld.  _

That single line kept the pink haired teen from summoning his keyblade, that practically begged to be brought out to cut down anything in his path. The thought of how two of his new friends would react to him killing someone they knew… along with how Blaine and Ventus would react kept him subdued.

_ None of them saw the Darkness… None of them felt it…  _ And that made him feel worse. It made him feel like he was all alone… just like when Strelitzia was killed. When he saw her lifeless body falling right in front of him… when his once vibrant and light filled keyblade had changed to a much darker one with her blood dripping from the petals.

“... Riam?” Lauriam stiffened at the sound of his old nickname, and for a second as he turned he swore he saw familiar long orange locks, concerned teal eyes and white dress…. Before it all faded and replacing the image was a very concerned looking Skuld.

“S… Sorry were you… uh… Were you saying something?” Lauriam stammered, having been shocked for a moment.

“You… You were uh…” Skuld started, only to freeze when both she and Lauriam felt two firm tugs on the rope in their hands. Both glanced down at the rope for a moment before panic entered their minds as they both began pulling Blaine back from the portal as quickly as possible. 

A couple minutes of frantic pulling later and Blaine, still clad in full armor, came crashing to the stone floor with some loud clanking and a hiss of pain.

_ “Note to self… cushin the inside of the armor for landings.”  _ Blaine groaned before dispelling the armor back into the pauldron as the portal he had left opened, finally closed. Both Lauriam and Skuld raced over to either side of the downed black haired teen, and practically began to inspect every inch they physically could of their friend.

“You Okay? How are you feeling? Any cold sensations?” Lauriam shot out, as Skuld practically threw Blaine’s hat off and looked into the darker teen’s light grey eyes.

“I’m fine, no feelings of Darkness getting in. Armor worked like a charm guys.” Blaine grinned, making both Lauriam and Skuld sigh in relief. “Only problem was I was practically floating in a void of black. Nothing to move around with, and only one world in sight…. Though I couldn’t even get to it if I tried. I got bored with nothing to do really.”

“You scared the crap out of us!” Skuld exclaimed, lightly slapping Blaine’s arm and getting a hesitant chuckle out of the scarred teen.

“Sorry bout that…” Blaine’s uncovered eye traveled to Lauriam’s face and he paused, a look of concern starting to form. “Hey… is everything alright buddy?”

“Huh?” Lauriam blinked, not quite getting what Blaine would be concerned about.

“You look like you’ve been crying.”

Reaching up with a hand, Lauriam lightly touched one of his cheeks only to feel that they were a little wet.

“Skuld, did you have a fight with Lauriam while I was gone?”

“No he just… He started a little bit before we pulled you in and… I was just trying to see if he was alright.” Skuld explained, watching as Lauriam rubbed at his face to clean away as many tears as he could. Blaine frowned for a moment, before grabbing his hat and putting it back to its proper place.

“Mind giving us a moment alone Skuld?”

“What? Why?!”

“Please? I’ll fill you in later okay?”

Skuld hesitated for a moment, looking between the two boys for a bit before sighing and throwing her hands up into the air.

“Alright! Fine! I’m gonna go see how Avery, Ephemer and Ven are doing.” Skuld turned and began to walk out of the room.

“Later! OH and be sure to tell Ven he’s still got a magic lesson later!” Blaine called, just as the black haired girl had reached the doorway. Skuld simply gave him a thumbs up before leaving the room completely and walking away.

As soon as she was gone, Blaine immediately turned to Lauriam, who flinched and attempted to avoid looking Blaine in the eye.

“Something about Strelitzia again?” Blaine questioned in a gentle tone. His covered eyes focused completely on his pink haired friend. Lauriam bit at his lower lip for a moment as he continued to look away.

“.... Kinda…”

“Hmm…” Blaine put a hand to his chin as he thought for a moment, before standing up and brushing off his pants. “It’s bound to be nearing dinner time. I could go for a slice of Pizza right about now.”

Lauriam blinked and looked up to the darker teen with confusion.

“What?”

“Well I’m hungry, and you don’t seem like you wanna talk about whatever's bugging you… Might as well get something to eat, and not push my friend into something he’s not comfortable with.” Blaine shrugged, before holding a hand out to Lauriam to help the pink haired teen up. Lauriam looked between the offered hand and Blaine’s face for a moment before taking it and pulling himself up.

“I suppose… food wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

“Great! I got some pineapples while out getting supplies yesterday and-”

“You are not putting that on the Pizza again!”

“Oh Come on! Not even on one half?”

“You say one half, you end up dumping it ALL onto the it!”

As the two argued over Pizza toppings while walking out of the room, neither of them noticed Avery standing out of sight from the room. The brunette kept a close eye on the two as they left before walking into the Workshop. Pale blue eyes scanning over everything in the room before pausing at one book, one book that seemed to have been covered by many notes and papers. Picking the large tome up, a nearly sadistic grin began to slowly cross their face as they saw the yellowed pages of older notes… written by the last person who lived in this very tower.

**_Oh, these will do nicely. Very nicely~!_ ** Holding the book tight to their chest, the brunette left the Workshop just as quickly as they had arrived.


	8. Chapter 8: Winds of Change

**_Winds of Change:_ **

Ventus walked down the familiar streets of Daybreak Town, holding a notepad and a pencil as he took notes with a bored look on his face. He was supposed to check on the Dandelions today… and in all honesty this was probably his least favorite of the chores that all of them swapped through. To do this one has to usually check their physical conditions within the pods they all rested in… before climbing into a modified pod and going in to check out the “Data World” all their minds were in.

_ What are we even looking for here? Everything looks like how it did before the War began…  _ Ventus thought as he looked down to the check list in the notebook and marked off a few more boxes as it seemed nothing was off. The young blond found himself sitting down near a fountain as he nearly finished with his job for the day, a bored sigh making itself well known as he slumped in his seat.

_ I’d rather be back at the clock tower then here… least I have friends there.  _ Ventus thought as he raised a hand up to rub at metal of the partial helmet piece that Blaine had given him. The kid practically wore the prototype armor piece all the time, well aside from when he went to bed that is. As he felt the cold metal on his fingertips, his bored look slowly shifted to a sadder one. 

_ Then again… they’ve all been busy for a while now. Is… is this going to keep up once we all become official union leaders? Am I… am I going to lose them again?  _

“You okay kid?” a female voice caught the young blonde boy off guard, making him stumble in his seat a bit before looking towards the voice.

A teenage blond girl, who looked to be around the same age as Lauriam and Blaine. Her hair was a little unkempt with some bangs hanging above her left eye and two spikes that stuck up like little antennae. She had a light blue colored jacket over a white blouse, a black tie, a black skirt with a belt that had a chain attached to it and light blue, knee high boots. Her teal colored eyes looked surprised by his reaction.

“Oh geez, sorry kid.” The girl rubbed at the back of her neck as she watched Ventus scramble to straighten up.

“Uh… it’s uh… it’s fine really!” Ventus exclaimed, while in his head he was practically screaming as he remembered the rule they all made, to try not to interact with any of the Dandelions in the Data World. It wouldn’t do well to have “conflicting memories” after all… plus for Ventus he had a hard time opening up enough to make new friends. Hell he felt awkward just even saying “Hi” to Ephemer’s friend Avery. “You… You uh, you just…. Caught me off guard!”

The confused expression on the girls face made Ventus want bury his face into his hands and scream his lungs out.

“Okaay?” She spoke up looking the younger blond over a bit, and making Ven feel like he needed to run away right now. “Doesn’t really answer my first question though kid.”

“Uh, w...what was that again?”

“Are you okay? From your reaction, something’s going on.”

_ Darkness take me now.  _ Ventus thought as he practically felt sweat rolling down the back of his neck, as the girls teal eyes looked him over with a calculating gaze. The blonde teen soon let out a small, thoughtful hum as she crossed her arms.

“... First time fighting heartless?” 

Whatever Ventus had thought she was thinking about, died right then and there.

“YES! VERY NEW! JUST GOT MY KEYBLADE AND EVERYTHING!” Ventus exclaimed with little to no thought as he latched onto what he Dandelion member thought, his voice a little squeaky from his earlier nerves affecting him. However as soon as he shouted the whole thing, the young blond boy froze, his blue eyes wide as he realized he might have screwed up… especially as he saw her looking at him with surprise… and a hint of suspicion.

“No need to be blowing out my eardrums kid…” She hissed quietly, raising her pinky finger up and clearing out one of her ears.

“S-Sorry…” Ventus looked down immediately, his eyes practically looking for anyway to get out of this place.

“It’s fine. Look kid… what did you say your name was again?” The girl sighed as she tilted her head a little bit, her eyes seeming to take everything about Ventus in, right down to the armor piece that made itself at home around his lower jaw and back of the head.

“You uh… you never asked before ma’am…” Ventus countered, mentally marking down a point of exit not to far away.

“Shit… knew I forgot something.” Ventus’s head raised up in surprise. She just swore! Sure, Skuld would say “Damn” and “Hell” sometimes, but this was a couple notches above those two words! He remembered hearing Blaine say it once after stubbing his toe… only to get slapped upside the head by Lauriam. It had to be a really bad word if Lauriam got violent about it!

….

Somewhere back in the real clock tower. Lauriam felt a sudden urge to go into the Data world and slap someone across the face. Blaine, who was with him in the same room, turned to the pink haired boy with a unsettled look on his half hidden face.

“... You ever get the feeling something pure in the world just got a little tainted?” Blaine asked in the uncomfortable silence the two had felt. The books they had been looking through going completely ignored for the moment.

“Yeah… and I have no idea why…”

….

“My sister would give me hell about this if she knew…” The girl sighed, completely unaware of the flabbergasted look on Ventus’s face from her earlier comment. Turning towards the younger blonde, the unknown girl straightened up a bit. “Name’s Elrena. Who are you kid?”

“Uh Ven…” Ventus stopped, wanting to slap himself on the head for sticking around instead of running like he was planning.

“Nice. Now-” Before Elrena could continue the sound of the clock tower chiming cut her off, and providing a perfect cover for Ventus.

“Oh man it’s that late already! Sorry gotta go! Nice meeting you, BYE!” Ventus exclaimed as he quickly darted away from the fountain area and away from the scene, with every intention to get back to the real world as he ran.

“Wha- Hey wait!” Elrena exclaimed as she tried to reach out for the younger boy, but was to late as Ventus ran away. “... I didn’t get to ask him about my sister…”

Looking a little downcasted by this, the blue clad girl began to turn around but paused when she saw the notebook Ventus had earlier sitting down next to his seat.

“Shit…” Picking the notebook up, Elrena turned and booked it right after Ventus, not knowing that she wouldn’t be able to find him until an hour later into her search. Even when asking other Keyblade wielders she ran into if they had seen “Ven”, no one even seemed to have even caught a glimpse of the kid.

_ Where the hell did he go?  _ The blonde thought to herself, glancing down to the notebook with a frown. Glancing around before looking back at the notebook, the teen bit at her lower lip as temptation reared its head.

_ “Don’t do it Sis! That’s someone else's personal belonging!”  _ She imagined her little sister yelling at her… making Elrena’s heart ache a bit at the reminder that the younger girl was missing still.

_ “People sometimes place information on where they live inside the cover. If it’s important enough for Ven, he probably at least put down a street address.”  _ The voice of her stepbrother popped up in her mind, soothing away the pain a bit, though a faint sense of longing was still there.

_ … Sorry Litzia…  _

The blonde teen opened the notebook.

….

Ventus practically hopped out of the pod the minute he woke up outside of the Data World. As he did, the young blonde felt his head hit someone else's, knocking both back a little in pain.

“Ow… What happened?” the voice of Skuld asked as Ventus rubbed at his own, pain filled head at the moment.

“Sorry Skuld…” Ventus hissed, carefully pulling himself out of the modified pod this time and a little bit away from the black haired teen to get some space.

“Nah, Nah it’s fine… Man you’ve got a tough skull there Ven.” Skuld commented as the pain started to lessen a bit.

“Sorry… again.” Ventus responded immediately before looking up at the older teen for a moment. “What… What brings you down here?”

“What? Oh crap right! You and I are on food duty today, so I was wondering what you think we should prepare.” Skuld answered, motioning for Ventus to follow her. The young blond blinked for a moment before ginning and following along.

“Maybe we could make a cake!”

“Nice try mister, real food first.”

“Aw, but Skuld!”

As the two walked away, within one of the pods that rested in the Garden, teal eyes slowly opened for the first time in almost a year.


	9. Chapter 9: Flash of the Past, Shadows of the Future

**_Flash of the Past, Shadows of the Future:_ **

_ “I don’t want to meet them!” a young blond haired girl shouted while throwing a pillow at her father. The orange haired man sighed a little as he watched his oldest child throw a blanket right over her head. _

_ “Elrena, please. Autumn and her son will be here any minute now and-” _

_ “Tell them to go away then!” Elrena pulled herself further into her blanket bundle and turned herself around to face away from her father. The man could only give her a tired, disappointed look from these actions. _

_ “That’s not going to happen sweetie. Besides, you and her son are about the same age. I’m sure the both of you could become friends and-” _

_ “NO!” _

_ “Rena?” a softer voice pipped up, getting the father to look over and see his youngest daughter looking at their direction with the biggest teal eyes and a pot of yellow roses in her small pale arms. “Papa, is Rena okay?” _

_ “It’s alright Strelitzia… your sister just doesn’t want to meet the people coming over.” _

_ As the father talked to his youngest, Elrena curled tighter into a ball under her covers with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.  _

**_It’s not fair… Why’s papa letting another woman come over again? Doesn’t he miss mama too? And Litzia… Litzia hardly knew mama and now Papa’s trying to replace her. It’s not fair…_ ** _ Elrena thought as she glared into the darkness that was her own blanket cocoon. She didn’t pay attention to what was going on outside of her fortress. If she did she would have noticed that her dad and little sister had left her doorway… and that there were two new voices within her home. _

_ She only started paying attention again when she felt a hand patting at her shoulder through the blanket. _

_ “Rena! Come on out.” Strelitzia urged, even though her sister just ended up huffing in irritation. “Rena! Please?” _

_ “I’m not coming out till they’re gone!” Elrena snapped, causing her little sister to jerk away in surprise… and an unfamiliar voice to speak up. _

_ “Oh…. I’m sorry then…” _

_ Moving her blanket just a little bit, the young blond saw a boy about her age, standing not to far away from her. The first few things that stuck out to her were his bright pink hair, and the saddened look on his face. One feature however caught her eye and made the young girl stare at the new boy. _

**_He’s got really blue eyes._ **

_ “Um…. Why are you staring at me?” the pink haired boy asked, and snapped Elrena out of her daze… even making the young blond notice her sister looking very confused. She felt her face heat up a little as she had both Strelitzia’s eyes and the boy’s eyes focused on her. _

_ “.... You look more like a girl then a boy.” _

_ “Huh?!” _

….

Teal eyes opened up slowly at first, like she was just waking up from the sun getting right into her eyes from the openings in the curtains. 

_ When… did I fall asleep?  _ Elrena thought to herself as she slowly started to rub the sleep from her eyes… only to pause when something clicked in her mind. Pulling her hands away from her eyes, Elrena froze as she took in everything around her.

Pods as far as her eyes could see from the slightly tinted glass that covered over the one she was in, stylized stained glass murals depicting some sort of story with five animals and two darkened figures made up the ceiling above, and crystal lights hung from the walls illuminating the space she found herself in.

_ Wha… What the hell is this place? When did I get here?! How….  _ Slowly a headache began to pound against her skull as memories slowly started to trickle in.

“The… Dandelions… Keyblade War…. !!!” Immediately the blond summoned up her keyblade into her hand. The short jagged yellow blade that looked like a bolt of lightning, with two smaller ones curving back into a green, ribbon like cross guard with a blue rose separating the blade itself from the guard. Focusing just enough on the blade a small beam of light came forth from the tip and caused her pod to open immediately.

Finally out of the enclosed space, Elrena quickly took note of how her limbs felt… heavy, like they hadn’t been used properly in a while… and to be honest who really knew how long she was in that pod for.

_ Never mind that… Focus!  _ Quickly scanning through as many pods as she could, the blue clad girl felt like ripping her own hair out at not finding the people she was looking for… though her gaze did linger on one pod, outside of her own, that was left open. 

_ Someone else is up… And that someone is going to give me answers.  _ Determination settling in, Elrena marched right out of the “Garden” with her head held high, and steel in her eyes as she hurried down the unfamiliar halls, looking for anyone else. Though if she hadn’t left so soon she would have seen a figure calmly stepping out of a doorway after she passed… as well as the growing darkness that seemed to slowly crawl after the figure and slowly spread through the hall.


	10. Darkness Cometh

**_Darkness Cometh_ **

_ “I’m heading off to Daybreak Town tomorrow…” a twelve year old Elrena stated, her teal eyes not meeting Lauriam’s or Strelitzia’s and instead seemed more interested in something just beyond the window of their home. The young orange haired girl’s face turned to shock at hearing her older sister’s words. _

_ “Tomorrow? But… But you just got your Keyblade today!” Strelitzia exclaimed, shooting up from her seat and seeming to try and find the right words to say next in her surprised state. “You’re not…. But I thought…. Weren’t…. Weren’t we all going to go together if we all got chosen?” _

_ Lauriam himself was at a bit of a loss for words but paid close attention to his step-sister’s expression as he watched the blond’s eyes look regretful for a second before hardening up. _

_ “Gotta start training as soon as I can. Heartless aren’t going to wait around, so why should I?”  _

_ Strelitzia looked down right heartbroken at hearing her sisters words, having been planning for when she and her two siblings would all go to the infamous town full of Keyblade Wielders for the past four years since their parents got married.  _

_ “... What’s the real reasoning Rena?” Lauriam questioned, not completely buying into his blond friend’s reasoning and knowing that she had a bad habit of covering up a lot of how she really felt. _

_ “.... There’s no other reasons Riam. Seriously, do you have to question everything I tell ya like an idiot?” The blond haired girl turned to him and smirked a little… though her eyes didn’t seem to reflect the same playfulness she was trying to give off. “Besides, the two of you will get your own Keyblades in no time at all.” _

**_That sadness… does she really not think we’ll get our own Keyblades as well? Then again… realistically speaking how often do full families all get their own?_ **

_ Blue eyes now looking at how distraught his younger sister looked as the dreams she had wished would come true so bad, were now crushed because one of them wanted to get out of the house as soon as she got her keyblade….  _

_ “Don’t worry Litzia, we can still go together when we get our Keyblades.”  _

_ The young orangette blinked and looked over to the pink haired boy with wide, hope filled eyes. _

_ “Promise?” Strelitzia asked in a quiet voice, holding one hand out with her pinky extended. _

_ “Promise.” Lauriam smiled, reaching his own hand out and wrapping his own pinky around the offered one. The younger girl smiled, feeling a bit better now… while Elrena just felt a quiet guilt bite at her heart, but still felt a small smile cross her face. _

_ Later as the siblings began heading off to bed, Elrena actually pulled Lauriam aside before he went to his room, a serious look on her face. _

_ “Keep Strelitzia safe for me, got it?” _

_ “Considering I had absolutely no intentions of her ever getting harmed to begin with, yeah I do…. But why are you telling me now?” His brow quirked upwards as he looked Elrena in the eyes. Blue and Teal stared at one another before the owner of the teal eyes closed them with a sigh and looked away. _

_ “Just… Please… there’s more than just the Heartless out there that will hurt people.” _

_ …. _

“Any luck getting ideas for traveling to new worlds yet?” 

Lauriam snapped his head up, getting brought out of his memories by the voice of Blaine, and being quietly reminded that he was still in the vast library of the clock tower.

“Sorry… nothing yet.” Lauriam finally responded, looking back down to the book in his hands… opened up to a page detailing how to recognize the darkness in one's heart.

“Damn, kinda hoping you had some luck on your end.” Blaine sighed, scratching at the back of his neck with his right hand, while closing the large book he had in his left one. “Maybe we could make some kind of transportation-”

“Blaine, I know what you are thinking. The answer is no. We got lucky with the armor, we are NOT pushing it with some kind of ships.” Lauriam stated, closing his book with a loud thump as if to make a clear point to the black clad leader.

“Fine, Fine…” Lauriam watched as Blaine started to take on a more thoughtful look, as the black haired keyblade wielder walked over to a table to set his own book down. “Could try blasting a few Aero spells, see if we could propel ourselves that way.”

“Could work… Though I doubt any of us have enough magic to keep that up for very long… How would that even look though?” Lauriam pondered, muttering the last part as his mind began to conjure up images of Blaine in his keyblade armor, holding out his keyblade behind him and just blasting a tornado behind him for movement.

“Maybe a well focused fire spell at the end of our key… Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Blaine shouted, his previous thoughtful expression soon turning into a look of excitement, and making Lauriam wince and quietly brace himself for another harebrained idea from his friend.

“What if, and hear me out on this one-”

“Not like I have much choice.”

“We use our Keyblades themselves!”

“I’m not following but I’m sure your going to-”

“Think about it, “May your Heart be your Guiding Key”. That’s the saying everyone who gets their keyblade is taught right?”

“It’s a metaphor really.”

“But, what if we took it literally, with our Guiding Key being our Keyblades! Use it to focus on the lights of the worlds-”

“This is sounding crazier than usual Blaine.”

“And then have it bring us right to said world after we focus on it! We’re going to have to run a bunch of tests.”

“Probably more like you and Skuld are, then you’ll drag me and probably Ven into it as well.”

“Then if one of those tests works out, we may have a whole new way to travel to these new worlds! Brilliant! Come my dear Assistant!”

“Once again, not your assistant.”

“We need to tell this to Skuld!” Blaine dashed towards the door, eager to find his co-creator of the Keyblade Armor, while Lauriam just sighed and slowly made his way after the black haired teen. He made sure to set his book down before leaving of course.

_ Maybe I should talk to Ephemer more about how to keep Blaine’s over excitement on a leash… or convince him to take my place with helping him for the day.  _ Lauriam thought as he just entered the hallway… only to pause when he saw Blaine just standing not to far away from the room.

“Hey Lauriam…. Our World’s protected right?” Blaine asked, sounding surprisingly casual despite the topic.

“Considering no Heartless have appeared within the year since the Keyblade war… oh light don’t tell me…” Lauriam hissed, and didn’t need to be told anything else after he noticed Blaine summon Light in the Dark, and take up his fighting stance, allowing for the pink haired teen to see a large amount of Shadows crawling towards them.

“You take the right, I got the left…” Blaine ordered, pulling his hat down a little bit over his eyes and charging a fire spell within the center of the two jagged ends of his weapon.

“More like I’ll take out the ones that get to close, you handle the long range.” Lauriam retorted, summoning up Dark Hellebore, the normal poison of the keyblade dripping a little more due to the magic now being charged within it.

“Whatever works best with you bud.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took awhile to make ^^; Got side tracked with other stories and ideas, had to figure out which parts of cannon I wanted to do before deciding "I'm just gonna make this a full AU and just do my own take." I'll try to make the next chapter and get it out within a week to follow up as an apology for taking so long.


	11. Darkness Cometh Part 2

**_Darkness Cometh Part 2:_ **

Ephemer sighed as he wandered the halls, finding his way to the kitchen with large bags full of groceries and supplies.

_ Thank the Light the Moogles are still around to do business….  _ The white haired boy thought for a moment but then frowned a little as he remembered that there used to be more then the three that were here now… Where had the others gone? A new world perhaps?

_ I could ask Blaine later. This seems like something right up his alley. Maybe Avery would like to theorize it to?  _

Ephemer paused for a minute when his thoughts went to his friend. Sure they had been great to hangout with again, when he wasn’t doing specific chores of the day of course… but a few things had seemed a little off with them.

A day after they had awoken, Avery seemed normal, though… when they asked to practice a bit with their keyblade. Shake off the rust as it were. Though Ephemer was hesitant to even raise a keyblade to his friend, he still agreed but that’s when things seemed a little off.

_ “Alright, if you’re absolutely sure about this.” Ephemer sighed, summoning up his Starlight keyblade and shifting his stance. _

_ “Hey, I’ve been out of the game for… what six? Seven months?” The brown haired youth pondered, their outfit now consisting of a short dark blue jacket top with white trim, a solid black tank top, tanned shorts that end right above the knees and a pair of black combat boots.  _

_ “A year and two months… if you want to be exact.” _

_ “Oh yeesh, I really do need practice then!” Avery exclaimed, summoning up their keyblade that had a long reach, an almost bone white, basket guard with segmented parts and a dark blue crystal with two blueish grey cables dangling from the back. The blade itself was also segmented, but more metallic than the guard, making Ephemer think that it could extend its own reach and act as a whip. Finally the teeth of the keyblade itself stuck out by a small line of metal and formed blunt, jagged teeth with black triangles in the center of each tooth. _

_ “Try not to hold back too much on me okay Ephemer.”  _

_ Staying silent, Ephemer simply nodded as he waited for Avery to take up a battle position… that was his first mistake as the long haired teen dashed right towards him, their keyblade “Jailbreak” being slashed right at him. Reacting quick, the white haired boy blocked with his Starlight keyblade. _

_ Avery jumped back after their blade was blocked and then raised their key high in the air, electricity started to crackle around the blade as a Thundaga was being charged. _

_ Ephemer thinking quickly, gathered his own magic and forming small frozen crystals on his blade before slamming it down just in time to make a Ice Wall just as the strong thunder spell stuck. The newly formed ice shattered, making a small frozen cloud that was hard to see through for the brown haired teen… making a perfect cover for Ephemer who began rapid firing simple fire spells as he made a beeline to get in closer to his fellow keyblade wielder. _

_ Avery immediately set to blocking each and every one of the weaker level fire spells with their blade, whipping it around and having the segmented parts extend a bit for better flexibility in each strike. After striking the third ball of fire, Ephemer reappeared on their left and seemed all too eager to strike… but seemed to hesitate just a little bit as he immediately caught sight of their scar across their face. _

_ That slight bit of hesitation gave Avery just enough time to whip Jailbreaker back around into a diagonal slash, striking the Starlight keyblade and stopping it from advancing forward right away.  _

**_“To Slow~”_ ** _ Avery’s blade began to crackle with electricity again for just a moment, only to pause when noticing Ephemer had raised a single hand… and shot out a single Fire spell right at Avery’s chest. _

_ “More like making a distraction.” Ephemer smirked as his friend skidded a little bit away from him. They shook their head, looking confused for a moment but shrugged it off and seemed to get back into the swing of the combat practice. _

It was slight at the time… didn’t really register all that much at first in Ephemer’s mind… but looking back at that one single comment. His friend’s voice was a bit different then normal… Not only that but… but when they were charging up that Thunder spell, Avery’s face also seemed off at that moment as well.

They had an almost sadistic look on their face.

“No… they couldn’t have… but…” Ephemer muttered to himself, paying hardly any attention to his surroundings as he continued to walk to the kitchens almost on autopilot… Only to be knocked back into reality when he walked right into someone.

“Oh Gosh I’m sor-” Ephemer started, noticing immediately that a couple of the groceries he had got fell to the ground… but also quickly noticing the unfamiliar light blue boot… as well as the lightning bolt shaped keyblade being pointed right at him.

“Who the hell are you snowball?”

….

“Wonder what’s taking Em so long with that grocery run. He’d normally be in here by now chatting with us...” Skuld pondered out loud while cutting up a couple veggies for the Chicken Stir Fry she and Ventus were working on. Though Ventus seemed a little less enthused as he watched her add the unholy greens and peppers into the pan with the chicken.

“Maybe he caught wind of all the food of darkness and thought to ditch…” Ventus mumbled as he half heartedly worked on the sauces and sides. Skuld turned to the young blond, a look that read “Really?” clear on her face, before shifting into a bit of a playful smirk.

“Well, guess you  _ really  _ don’t want to make the chocolate cake for after then.”

Ventus gasped a little bit, a flash of fear crossed his face for just a second before he seemed to straighten up with a bright, but strained looking smile.

“That’s… That’s not it at all Skuld! I was just… just trying to make a joke, yeah that’s it!” Ventus laughed nervously. “I actually really like pep…. Peppers and brocco… broccoli and… and…”

“I’m teasing you Ven.” Skuld finally laughed, seeing Ventus’s face slowly turn from it’s clearly fake smile to looking almost physically sick just talking about the foods he hates. “But, you do have to eat at least a few of the veggies before the cake. Deal?”

“... okay…” Ven sighed, going back to his part of the work for just a moment, before he felt Skuld ruffling up his hair a bit.

“Thatta boy.” She grinned and just as she pulled her hand back, both she and Ventus froze as they noticed large pools of black starting to seep their way into the kitchen entrance… and bright yellow eyes shining just below its surface.

“Looks like veggie time’s put on pause for now.” Ventus quipped, summoning up his keyblade. The young blond’s dark grey and gold keyblade had a gear like, circular guard around the handle, a thick blade with two golden lines crossing diagonally closer to the guard, the teeth looked like they were part of a secondary gear and was held by four metal bars, while a smaller secondary set of teeth was held up by three. On the handle there was a little button that seemed to rotate the blade from being able to be held in a normal grip, to a reverse grip when needed to execute more strikes.

Skuld herself quickly summoned up her own keyblade, Moons Light, and got into a battle stance.

“If we can finish these guys off before we burn the stirfry, we can work on dessert.” 

“You promise?” Ventus’s eyes practically sparked up in joy when he saw Skuld nod. “Then let’s send these heartless back to the dark!”

While Ventus was now fully eager and excited to go at the heartless now pulling themselves out of the pools of darkness, Skuld was a bit more concerned.

_ I thought the world was locked and protected from the heartless… was… was it weakened by our testing of the armor?  _

Shaking her head of these thoughts, yet still putting a pin in them for later, she soon rushed forward to help her fellow keyblade wielder fight the Heartless that have invaded their home.


End file.
